Compulsory job cuts to hit NHS

There will be further compulsory redundancies in the NHS before the end of the year, said chief executive David Nicholson.

Mr Nicholson said that he expected the bulk of jobs lost to be in management and administrative positions, as part of a drive to redirect £250 million from backroom work to frontline healthcare.

Some 903 compulsory redundancies have been announced up to the end of September this year, including 20% clinical staff - about 180 people.

Asked how many more compulsory redundancies there would be, Mr Nicholson said: "It's very difficult to say at the moment. I'm sure there will be more than the 903 that we currently have, but it's not relevant to speculate at the moment.

"The vast majority of the redundancies that we foresee in the rest of the year will be around management and administrative staff as a part of that restructuring."

He added: "It's not helpful to speculate and set out numbers because nobody really has got to the end of this process yet.

"What we do know is that by the end of September just over 900 people were made compulsorily redundant. Eighty per cent of those are management and administrative staff, a very small number of them clinical staff.

"We think that number will probably go up in the rest of the year, largely because we are going through a major management restructuring.

"One of the things we are trying to do at the moment is reduce the amount of money the NHS spends on management and administration by £250 million this year, so we can reinvest it in services next year, particularly so we can improve cancer care, palliative care and some preventative services."